“Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is vintage Seuss, an anything-but-solemn illustrated sermon on the thrills and adventures that await you on the road to success in life. Of course, the doctor points out the pitfalls as well as the summits. But in the end all comes out right, as that young pajama-clad Seussian hero triumphs over the delightfully fearsome pictorial creatures that bestrew this way.” — Herb Kupferberg’s May 1990 syndicated conversation with Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss’s iconic cover image has become synonymous with the ideals outlined in Kupferberg’s statement above. The fact that it graces the cover of his last book has catapulted the image into the public conscious at a level beyond that of nearly any other Seussian graphic.

It is fitting then that his last cover image would come full circle as an autobiographical illustration of his own life, as well as a forward-reaching symbol for generations of young adults. As Dr. Seuss’s widow, Audrey Geisel, said about Oh, the Places You’ll Go! — “I think he was intending it to be the summation of his own life. He was taking everything he knew and put it into the life voyage of this particular little boy.”

the pajama-clad seussian hero

In the summer of 1946, a New York friend invited Ted Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, to vacation at Villa Narcissa above the Pacific southwest of Los Angeles. Ted’s biographers wrote: “After a few golden mornings padding about the terrace, Ted declared that he wanted to live the rest of his life in a climate that allowed him ‘to walk around outside in my pajamas.’” In the cover image of his last book, we see that pajama-clad boy as he embarks on life’s journey.

TARGETING EXCELLENCE IN LIFE

Dr. Seuss was interviewed for the July 1989 issue of LIFE magazine around the time he was completing Oh, the Places You’ll Go! During their meeting, the interviewer inquired about a framed target hanging on the wall. The target sported a perfect “dead-center” bullseye. She was told that his father was the marksman, having won an international rifle meet the year Ted was born, adding:

“That target reminds me to reach for excellence. If you don’t, you end up with schlock.”

The target concept has seemingly found its way into the cover illustration for Dr. Seuss’s final book as the central motif of the artwork. The boy, standing on the elevated center of the target, alludes to the pursuit of excellence in life despite the challenges one may face. The book that follows stays true to this important cover image message.

Nearly six decades earlier, Dr. Seuss began exploring this topic of excellence in his now coveted By Gad, Old Man, You Got Him! In that groundbreaking work, Seuss seemingly highlights life’s journey—and the pursuit of excellence—via an homage to great marksmanship. For more information on that image click below.